Category Archives: My life

Hello! Did you all have a good weekend? I had my sister and her husband visiting me in London on Saturday and Sunday so did some lovely exploring around the city with them. But first on Friday night me and a group of girls kicked off the weekend by checking out the 50 Shades of Grey movie. Seven girls + a few wines + this movie = lots of giggles! Have you seen the film yet & what did you think?

Hello everyone! Did you all have a lovely Valentines Day over the weekend? I started my Valentines Day with a visit to the Tate Britain museum. Even though I’ve lived in London for 5 years, I’m ashamed to admit that I’d never been to the Tate Britain so I thought it was about time I ticked it off the list. What a stunning building and a great collection of art to admire. Wandering through a museum is such a lovely weekend activity, don’t you think? Afterwards we had brunch and coffee at popular local cafe Pimlico Fresh near Victoria Station, definitely check it out next time you’re in the area. No picture of my avocado and chilli on toast sorry..but it was very yummy!

I am back in London today after a lovely Christmas in the Netherlands with my family. Sorry for the radio silence on the blog during that time, but I decided to take a bit of a time-out (even from blogging) and just relax. Plus I’ve had this terrible cold for a week now, which means my brain feels like mush. Here some instagram pictures from my week in the homeland.

Happy Monday! Today was actually quite an exciting day for me because I started at my new job. It felt a bit like the first day of school, but it was a good day and it flew by. Lots to learn and information to get my head around, but that’s the fun of a new challenge right? As you know I had a bit of time off in between jobs where I went home to the Netherlands and did some fun stuff with friends in London. So I thought I’d share some of my instagram pics with you all that I took during that time…

Flying into Netherlands over the coast. Seeing the beach like that always makes me smile and excited to be going home // A visit to the Japanese Garden with all its gorgeous autumn colours – more photos of my visit to these gardens HERE // Zooming home through the forrest in The Hague with my parents // A day of babysitting my little nephew included cooking dinner – I tried a new Ottolenghi recipe; Cauliflower Cake. It was super simple and delicious. Don’t worry recipe to follow!

“I’ve learned that home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling!” Love that quote and being at home always makes me feel so relaxed, happy and at peace // One day we went for a long (3hr) walk on the beach. It was a pretty windy day and the night before it had stormed so the beach was covered in shells and little crabs // Walks on the beach (no matter what weather really..) is one of my favourite things in the world. It’s totally my happy place – letting the wind blow all the cobwebs away :) // In love with my new snood that I picked up at the HEMA for only €5 (link) – it’s so cosy and love the black and white pattern. A girl can never have too many scarves right?

Biking around The Hague – it’s just the best and easiest way to get around // Dessert I made one night when having dinner at my brother’s house – Cherry Clafoutis, it’s my fail proof dessert recipe! // A stunning autumn day meant time for an early morning run on the beach with my dad // Followed by breakfast made by me. These turkish style eggs were so good and something a bit different – I’ll share my easy recipe in the next few days!

A day in the outdoors. We went hiking in the Meijendel Dunes, which is about a 40min bike ride north of where my parents live in The Hague. It’s a stunning nature reserve coasted area characterised by dynamic water landscapes, pine forests and hundreds of bird species which makes a perfect environment for long walks and bicycle trips // We spotted many wild mushrooms during our walk // After the walk we refuelled with fresh mint tea and real Dutch Apple Pie (appeltaart) A must when in Holland, it’s the best! // Sand sculptures in the city centre of The Hague. Pretty impressive and they’d been there for days too. I was in the city for movie night with my parents. Saw the film ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ which I absolutely adored. Such a feel good film. Totally made me smile, warm and fuzzy, want to go to chef’s school and move to France to start a restaurant ;) If you’re, like me, a bit of a foodie then I’d definitely recommend checking out this movie.

Day trip to Antwerp in Belgium. We drove down (as it’s only about 1 1/2 hour from The Hague) and explored the sights around the city. Antwerp has an old town and a more modern area, lots of amazing shopping and cool bars and restaurants // I had a delicious lunch at Felix Pakhuis (link) near the Museum Aan de Stroom (link) which is worth a visit when in Antwerp – even if just going up to the roof, for free, to get an amazing view over the city // When in Belgium….enjoying beers in this cool called “Het Elfde Gebod” which is filled with religious nik-naks and has a large selection of beers on offer // Antwerp Market Square at night!

Last day in Holland and it was a stunning sunny day so meant one last walk on the beach with my parents. Will miss these two again when back in London // Home again in London and out and about in Notting Hill – Wild at Heart on Westbourne Grove is just the most gorgeous flower shop! // Morning walk in autumnal Primrose Hill – a bit rainy but still great to enjoy in the fresh air in such a beautiful royal park.

Some shopping at Bailey Nelson. I may or may not now be the owner of some Cat Eye style sunglasses. Watch this space ;) // Brunch Granger Style. Catching up with a friend at a Notting Hill fave; Granger & Co on Westbourne Grove. His scrambled eggs are still the best I’ve ever tasted //A night out with friends in Brixton Village; pizza pizza pizza! // Followed by more fun times at The Social for their weekly Thursday Hip Hop Karaoke Night. We didn’t actually get on the mic ourselves (duh, we didn’t want to scare the crowd) but had a great time.

It’s been such strange weather in Autumn here in London. The other day it was 23 degrees which is so amazing! I was enjoying it a lot because wasn’t working so the sunshine and being able to dress all summery felt wonderful // Happy Halloween!! Friends of mine hosted a fab Halloween party so I decided to get dressed up as little red riding hood and attempted scary (clawed) makeup. Was (surprisingly) quite happy with the result actually! What did you dress up as for Halloween this year? // The last few days have been a bit colder which meant scarf weather. Picked up this little cosy beauty recently on Portobello Road – it’s a copy of a sold out version from ZARA season ’13 and because I’d always envied anyone that got that ZARA scarf I am stoked that managed to find this one! I love mixing prints at the moment; stripes and tartan, stripes and leopard print – it all goes in my books // Sunday Roast at The Albion in Islington – sharing a roast chicken + girl time. Ahhh life is good :)

Hope you enjoyed my little insta-life-lately post. For more pics you can follow me on instragram @dutchessroz. Also do leave your instagram account in a comment so I can check yours out, because I love finding new inspiring people to follow :)

“Will: Do you like apples?
Clark: Yeah.
Will: Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples?”

Haha I love that line from the movie Good Will Hunting! Any-hoo on the subject of apples, this Sunday me and some friends headed out of London for the day for something a little different. Turns out that in October many Apple orchards in the UK celebrate Apple Day – and at Pippins Farm, which is near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, they were holding an open farm event in association with Hospice in the Weald. One of my friends actually knows the owners of this orchard and she had organised a fun day out for us to tour the apple orchard, drink ciders, feast on a hog roast & toffee apples and to play some fun apple games. Here are some photos of our day out at Pippins Farm Orchard…

It was so nice to escape the city to do something completely different for a change on a Sunday! The food was delicious and after a few too many few ciders we frolicked around the apple orchard like crazy people! But oh what fun we had & I love these silly but extremely wonderful people. How do you like them apples? ;)